12 U.S. Code § 1701z–6 - Special housing need research and demonstration authority

(a) Special demonstrations of housing design, structure, facilities, and amenities to meet needs of elderly, handicapped, etc.; contracts, grants, and assistance by Secretary

In carrying out activities under section
1701z–1 of this title, the Secretary may undertake special demonstrations to determine the housing design, the housing structure, and the housing-related facilities, and amenities most effective or appropriate to meet the needs of groups with special housing needs including the elderly, the handicapped, the displaced, single individuals, broken families, and large households. For this purpose, the Secretary is authorized to enter into contracts with, to make grants to, and to provide other types of assistance to individuals and entities with special competence and knowledge to contribute to the planning, development, design, and management of such housing.

(b) Areas of preferential attention

In carrying out his functions under this section, the Secretary shall give preferential attention to demonstrations which in his judgment involve areas of housing user needs most neglected in past and current research and demonstration efforts.

The Secretary is authorized to undertake demonstrations involving the actual planning, development, and occupancy of housing utilizing the contract and loan authority of any federally assisted housing program. He is also authorized to set aside any development, construction, design, and occupancy requirements, for the purposes of these demonstrations, if in his judgment they inhibit the testing of housing designed to meet the special housing needs.

(d) Evaluation of demonstration

In carrying out this section, the Secretary shall include, as part of any demonstration, an evaluation of the demonstration to cover the full experience involved in planning, development, and occupancy.

(e) Limitation on amounts available for research

In addition to any other contract or loan authority which the Secretary may utilize under subsection (c) of this section, not more than $10,000,000 from amounts approved in appropriation Acts shall be available for research under this section.

Section was enacted as part of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1970, and not as part of the National Housing Act which comprises this chapter.

Indian Public Housing Early Childhood Development Demonstration Program

Pub. L. 101–625, title V, § 518,Nov. 28, 1990, 104 Stat. 4201, as amended by Pub. L. 102–550, title I, § 124,Oct. 28, 1992, 106 Stat. 3709; Pub. L. 104–330, title V, § 501(d)(1),Oct. 26, 1996, 110 Stat. 4042, authorized Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to carry out demonstration program in low-income housing developed or operated pursuant to a contract between the Secretary and an Indian housing authority in the same manner as the demonstration program under section 222 ofPub. L. 98–181was carried out, and further provided for funding for demonstration program, limitations, and report to Congress, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 105–276, title V, § 582(a)(7),Oct. 21, 1998, 112 Stat. 2643.

Demonstration Project for Assistance to Units of General Local Government To Encourage Upgrading of Lower Income Family Housing

“(1) the Department of Health and Human Services spends in excess of $5,000,000,000 annually for housing in the form of allowances for shelter for public assistance recipients;

“(2) States administering the Department of Health and Human Services public assistance program often specify shelter allowances that have little relationship to the cost or the quality of the housing in which public assistance recipients live;

“(3) at least 30 per centum of public assistance recipients live in substandard housing;

“(4) the older rental buildings in which many public assistance recipients live are in those neighborhoods that need the assistance of the programs of the Department of Housing and Urban Development for preservation and rehabilitation; and

“(5) there is the potential for improving housing for many lower income families by coordinating State and local government efforts in order to assure that families receiving public assistance payments from the Department of Health and Human Services are able to live in decent, safe, and sanitary housing.

“(b) The purpose of this section, therefore, is to provide assistance to units of general local government and their designated agencies in order to develop a program that will—

“(1) encourage the upgrading of housing occupied primarily by lower income families, including families receiving assistance under the aid for families with dependent children program established under title IV of the Social Security Act [42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.]; and

“(2) provide for better coordination at the local level of the efforts to assist families receiving public assistance from the Department of Health and Human Services so that these families will be able to occupy affordable housing that is decent, safe, and sanitary and that, if necessary, is rehabilitated with funds provided by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

“(c) The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (hereafter referred to in this section as the ‘Secretary’) shall, to the extent approved in appropriation Acts, establish and maintain a demonstration project to carry out the purpose described in subsection (b).

“(d) In carrying out such project, the Secretary shall make grants to units of general local government, or designated agencies thereof, to carry out administrative plans approved by the Secretary in accordance with subsection (e), and the Secretary may make grants to States to provide technical assistance for the purpose of assisting such units of general local government to develop and carry out such plans.

“(e)(1) Grants may be made to States and units of general local government and agencies thereof that apply for them in a manner and at a time determined by the Secretary and that, in the case of units of general local government and their agencies, are selected on the basis of an administrative plan described in such application.

“(2) No such administrative plan shall be selected by the Secretary unless it sets forth a plan for local government activities that are designed to—

“(A) require or encourage owners of rental housing occupied by lower income families to bring such housing into compliance with local housing codes;

“(B) provide technical assistance, loans, or grants to assist owners described in subparagraph (A) to undertake cost-effective improvements of such housing;

“(C) work with the State to establish and implement a schedule of local shelter allowances for recipients of assistance under title IV of the Social Security Act [42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.] based on building quality that will be applicable to buildings involved in this program; and

“(D) coordinate local housing inspection, housing rehabilitation loan or grant assistance, rental assistance, and social service programs for the purpose of improving the quality and affordability of housing for lower income families.

“(3) Funds received from any grant made by the Secretary to a unit of general local government shall be made available for use according to the administrative plans and may be used for—

“(A) technical assistance or financial assistance to property owners to upgrade housing projects described in paragraph (2)(A) of this subsection;

“(B) temporary rental assistance to families who live in buildings assisted under this program and who are eligible for, but are not receiving, assistance under section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 [42 U.S.C. 1437f], except that such families shall not include families receiving assistance under title IV of the Social Security Act [42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.], and the amount of such rental assistance may not exceed 20 per centum of each grant received under this section;

“(C) housing counseling and referral and other housing related services;

“(D) expenses incurred in administering the program carried out with funds received under this section, except that such expenses may not exceed 10 per centum of the grant received under this section; and

“(E) other appropriate activities that are consistent with the purposes of this section and that are approved by the Secretary.

“(f) Any recipient of a grant from the Secretary under this section shall agree to—

“(1) contribute to the program an amount equal to 15 per centum of the funds received from the Secretary under this section, and the Secretary shall permit the recipient to meet this requirement by the contribution of the value of services carried out specifically in connection with the program assisted under this section;

“(2) permit the Secretary and the General Accounting Office [now Government Accountability Office] to audit its books in order to assure that the funds received under this section are used in accordance with the section; and

“(3) other terms and conditions prescribed by the Secretary for the purpose of carrying out this section in an effective and efficient manner.

“(g) In making grants available under this section, the Secretary shall select as recipients at least 20 units of general local government (or their designated agencies). The selection of proposals for funding shall be based on criteria that result in a selection of projects that will enable the Secretary to carry out the purpose of this section in an effective and efficient manner and provide a sufficient amount of data necessary to make an evaluation of the demonstration project carried out under this section.

“(h)(1) Not later than June 1, 1984, the Secretary shall transmit to the Congress an interim report on the implementation of the demonstration under this section.

“(2) The Secretary shall transmit, not later than October 1, 1985, to both Houses of the Congress a detailed report concerning the findings and conclusions that have been reached by the Secretary as a result of carrying out this section, along with any legislative recommendations that the Secretary determines are necessary.

“(i) To carry out this section, there are authorized to be appropriated not to exceed $10,000,000 during fiscal year 1984, and not to exceed $15,000,000 during fiscal year 1985, to remain available until expended.”

“(a) This section may be cited as the ‘Public Housing Anti-Crime Amendments of 1980’.

“(b) The Congress finds that—

“(1) public housing and surrounding neighborhoods continue to suffer substantially from rising crime and the fear of crime;

“(2) funding to provide more security for public housing can be used to leverage funding from other sources and thereby produce more successful anti-crime efforts;

“(3) the effects of inflation and the need for reductions in the budget of the Federal Government result in a need for more co-targeting of Federal and local anti-crime resources;

“(4) as authorized by the Public Housing Security Demonstration Act of 1978 [set out below], the Urban Initiatives Anti-Crime Program has performed in a promising manner; and

“(5) the First Annual Report to Congress of the Urban Initiatives Anti-Crime Program and the two General Accounting Office [now Government Accountability Office] reports to Congress on such Program have provided useful suggestions which can now be implemented.

“(c) It is, therefore, the purpose of this section to continue the efforts of the Urban Initiatives Anti-Crime Program so that more progress can be made in providing secure, decent, safe, and sanitary dwelling units for low-income and elderly tenants in public housing projects.

“(a) This section may be cited as the ‘Public Housing Security Demonstration Act of 1978’.

“(b)(1) The Congress finds that—

“(A) low-income and elderly public housing residents of the Nation have suffered substantially from rising crime and violence, and are being threatened as a result of inadequate security arrangements for the prevention of physical violence, theft, burglary, and other crimes;

“(B) older persons generally regard the fear of crime as the most serious problem in their lives, to the extent that one-fourth of all Americans over 65 voluntarily restrict their mobility because of it;

“(C) crime and the fear of crime have led some residents to move from public housing projects;

“(D) an integral part of successfully providing decent, safe, and sanitary dwellings for low-income persons is to insure that the housing is secure;

“(E) local public housing authorities may have inadequate security arrangements for the prevention of crime and vandalism; and

“(F) action is needed to provide for the security of public housing residents and to preserve the Nation’s investment in its public housing stock.

“(2) It is, therefore, declared to be the policy of the United States to provide for a demonstration and evaluation of effective means of mitigating crime and vandalism in public housing projects, in order to provide a safe living environment for the residents, particularly the elderly residents, of such projects.

“(c)(1) The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall promptly initiate and carry out during the fiscal year beginning on October 1, 1978, to the extent approved in appropriation Acts, a program for the development, demonstration, and evaluation of improved, innovative community anticrime and security methods, concepts and techniques which will mitigate the level of crime in public housing projects and their surrounding neighborhoods.

“(2) In selecting public housing projects to receive assistance under this section, the Secretary shall assure that a broad spectrum of project types, locations and tenant populations are represented and shall consider at least the following: the extent of crime and vandalism currently existing in the projects; the extent, nature and quality of community anticrime efforts in the projects and surrounding areas; the extent, nature and quality of police and other protective services available to the projects and their tenants; the demand for public housing units in the locality, the vacancy rate, and extent of abandonment of such units; and the characteristics and needs of the public housing tenants.

“(3) In selecting the anticrime and security methods, concepts and techniques to be demonstrated under this section, the Secretary shall consider the improvement of physical security equipment or dwelling units in those projects, social and environmental design improvements, tenant awareness and volunteer programs, tenant participation and employment in providing security services, and such other measures as deemed necessary or appropriate by the Secretary. Particular attention shall be given to comprehensive community anticrime and security plans submitted by public housing authorities which (i) provide for coordination between public housing management and local law enforcement officials, or (ii) coordinate resources available to the community through programs funded by the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Labor, the Community Services Administration, and the Corporation for National and Community Service, or other Federal or State agencies.

“(4) In carrying out the provisions of this section, the Secretary shall coordinate and jointly target resources with other agencies, particularly the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Labor, the Department of Justice, the Department of the Interior, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Education, the Corporation for National and Community Service, the Community Services Administration, and State and local agencies.

“(5) In order to assess the impact of crime and vandalism in public housing projects, the Secretary may, as part of the Annual Housing Survey conducted by the Department of Housing and Urban Development or by other means, collect data on crime and vandalism and integrate the data collection with the victimization surveys undertaken by the Department of Justice and the Department of Commerce.

“(6) The Secretary shall, to the maximum extent practicable, utilize information derived from the program authorized by this section for assisting in establishing (A) guidelines to be used by public housing authorities in determining strategies to meet the security needs of tenants of public housing projects assisted under the United States Housing Act of 1937 [42 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.] other than under section 8 of such Act [42 U.S.C. 1437f], and (B) guidelines for improvements relating to the security of projects (and the tenants living in such projects) assisted under section 14 of such Act [42 U.S.C. 1437l].

“(d) The Secretary shall initiate and carry out a survey of crime and vandalism existing in the Nation’s public housing projects. The survey shall include the nature, extent and impact of crime and vandalism and the nature and extent of resources currently available and employed to alleviate crime and vandalism in public housing.

“(e) The Secretary shall report to the Congress not later than eighteen months after the date of enactment of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1980 [Oct. 8, 1980]. Such report shall include the results of the survey on crime and vandalism in public housing; findings from the demonstration and evaluation of various methods of reducing the level of crime; and legislative recommendations, if appropriate for (A) a comprehensive program to increase security in public housing projects and (B) increasing the coordination between anticrime programs of other State and Federal agencies that may be used by public housing authorities. Any recommendations shall include estimated costs of such programs.

“(f) Of the additional authority approved in appropriation Acts with respect to entering into annual contributions contracts under section 5(c) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 [42 U.S.C. 1437c(c)] for the fiscal year beginning on October 1, 1978, the Secretary may utilize up to $12,000,000 of such authority in the fiscal year beginning on October 1, 1978, for the establishment of the public housing security demonstration program authorized by this section. Of the authority approved in appropriation Acts for the purpose of entering into annual contributions contracts under section 5(c) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 with respect to the fiscal year beginning on October 1, 1980, the Secretary may enter into contracts to carry out this section, except that the aggregate amount obligated over the duration of such contracts may not exceed $10,000,000.”